What do we want? Immigration Reform! When do we want it? NOW!

Mr. López and I, (and your favorite third wheel, my Suegra), went to the immigration march in Washington D.C. yesterday. (Photo of me at left. Hee hee.)

We dropped the kids off with my parents first, and I’m glad we did. I had enough difficulty looking out for myself, and I didn’t need the kids saying, “I’m hot. I’m hungry. How long is this going to be?”… I had Suegra saying, “Puchica, esta caliente… Tengo hambre… ¿Cuánto tiempo más?”

Riding the METRO was insane. They were having delays since one of the tracks was not in use for maintenance or something. Also, we were packed in there like sardines, but I’m pleased to say, everyone was in good spirits for the most part, and we all remembered to wear our deodorant.

I did get stared at quite a bit, which was a bit unnerving. I don’t know where the other white people were, but most of the time, I was the only one in the general vicinity. People photographing the event kept taking pictures of me and my husband, as if we were some sort of shining example of racial harmony, (They should see how we fight at home!) – which was uncomfortable at best.

I’m proud that we went to support the cause and it was exciting. The actual event itself though, in all honesty, could have been organized a little better. (I say this without taking away from all the hard work people put into this, because, as is obvious from the turnout, it was a success. I just say this in the spirit of making things even better next time.)

My main “complaint” would be that they had way too many guests make use of the microphone, many of whom were not gifted public speakers. This caused the event to go on too long and I could tell much of the crowd was becoming restless, (we stayed from 2 pm to 5 pm, and they were still going when we left.) … Remember, this is 200,000+ people, (the largest number to assemble on the National Mall since President Obama’s inauguration), standing in the hot sun, many with young children, (or annoying suegras.)

Next time they would do best to condense the program and make sure everyone is on the same page. The message seemed to get somewhat lost some of the time. One speaker kept saying “health care reform” instead of “immigration reform.” She looked baffled as to why the crowd was not responding, and no one corrected her. A couple others I felt almost crossed the line as far as disrespecting the President. (People, he’s on our side with this issue!) … And a few times speakers mentioned César Chávez as a source of inspiration. I’m shocked that so many Latino leaders have obviously not done their homework. César Chávez may have been a champion for the working class, but he was no amigo to the undocumented immigrants. His focus was his union, and anything that undermined those efforts, such as undocumented workers who would come in and work for less pay when he had his workers striking, was not something he tolerated. Chávez even went as far as to organize a group much like today’s “Minute men” to patrol the border, and he would also report undocumented immigrants to immigration.

History lessons aside, I’m excited about the momentum this has created. (And if you were in the crowd, you know that despite what was going on up on stage, the energy of the people was something tangible. The power is with the pueblo, as it should be!)

I hope you will please consider taking un momentico to sign your name and send a free fax in support of the Schumer-Graham bill for comprehensive immigration reform. Reforming immigration isn’t just necessary for bringing undocumented immigrants out of the shadows so their families don’t live day-to-day in fear of being torn apart, but giving them a path to legalization means they can contribute to their communities, and our economy more fully, which benefits us all. Other issues that will be discussed as part of the bill are border security and modernizing our currently outdated immigration system so we don’t find ourselves sorting out this kind of mess again. A bipartisan bill is possible and this should be a concern of every person living in the United States, no matter your race, status, or political party affiliation.

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